Page 49 of Blood of the Damned: Thorn
His grip turned punishing as he increased his speed. Him being faster, Thorn had to run to keep up when the fucker wouldn’t let go and he didn’t want to cause a show for the staff, who might mention it to Ledger.
“Oh, but it is,” he fired back, finding the whole situation highly amusing, despite the grip and running next to Dacian. It wasn’t often that Dacian could get rattled like this and although Thorn had not intentionally left Dacian to deal with Max, the side benefits were nothing to be ignored.
“Laugh all you want, you asshole, but I’m not the one with a mate who looks about ready to burst open.”
The laughter died at the image now painted in his mind. He really tried hard not to think about how big Ledger was getting.How his skin gleamed like blue veined marble with how tight it was. How big the girls had gotten and how it was a struggle to estimate how much longer it could be before Ledger was ready to give birth. The aches and pains he was getting were increasing, and he’d thought just the day before Ledger was going into labor.
“Shut the fuck up!” he ground out. He managed to yank his arm free as they entered the winery, just in time to see Ledger stroll out of the tasting room with a party of ten.
He gave Thorn an arched look before glancing at Dacian while he continued with his conversation with a couple who kept stride with him.
You keep those thoughts to yourself. My dhampir has enough to contend with,he hissed at Dacian while smiling cheekily at Ledger, then blowing him a kiss that made him blush and glance away.
Whatever. Just make sure you sit next to Max. That vamp has wandering hands.
Thorn’s amusement returned, as did his sense of vengeance. The second he got into Dacian’s office he went for his office chair and plonked himself down, smiling sweetly at his brother. Sitting forward, he offered a hand to Max.
“Good to see you Max, you’re looking well.”
Max had clearly made an effort. The small vampire bordered on skinny, and the suit he wore actually made him appear bulkier than usual. His ginger locks had been teased into a tumble of curls around his freckled face. The blue of his eyes resembled that of a sea bathed in sunlight, making it twinkle. Unfortunately for the small vampire, he was pretty, just not to Dacian, no matter how much he tried to appeal to him.
“One has to try,” Max replied, voice as smooth as silk, taking Thorn’s hand and giving it a firm shake.
Max kept his gaze off Dacian for two seconds. Thorn counted, growing more amused as Max let go his hand to move his chairto face the only other seat in the office, the one Dacian had yet to take.
Max patted the arm of the empty seat, fluttering exceptionally long eyelashes at Dacian. “Come darling, sit. Catch me up on what’s new.”
“Thorn has met his dhampir and they are expecting twins.” Dacian relayed all of this while taking the seat and sitting, fractionally angling himself away from Max’s. “It could be any day now before I meet mine.”
The level of enthusiasm for the lie was so forced that Thorn roared with laughter inside his head.Liar. Liar.
Fuck off.“How is your family, Max?” Dacian’s question seemed to bounce right over Max’s head, who wore a stunned expression as he stared unblinkingly at Dacian. “Your sister paid us a visit recently, I see she got married,” Dacian continued on as though Max had replied and he wasn’t holding a one-sided conversation.
“D-dhampir?” Max finally stuttered, shifting his attention to Thorn, who nodded sympathetically. Max was looking as if his dreams had gotten crushed and he seemed to shrink right before Thorn’s gaze.
“Ledger. You may have seen him when you arrived?”
“A man? Your dhampir, who’s pregnant, is a man?” Hope flared to life so fast, Max’s lips tugged into a huge grin.
Thorn got an uncomfortable feeling from Dacian. Why, he wasn’t sure.
What’s with you?
He didn’t answer, instead he replied to Max. “Yes, Thorn’s dhampir is male.”
“W-wow. What a shocker. I do not think I’ve ever heard of a dhampir being male before.” He gave Dacian a wistful smile. “Then there is hope for all of us who prefer men to warm their beds.”
“Indeed.” Dacian didn’t sound anywhere as happy as Max did. “Shall we discuss business now?” He wasn’t curt, and if Thorn didn’t know his brother as well as he did, he might have missed the desire to leave the room.
“Yes, sorry, of course.” Max reached into his suit jacket pocket and retrieved his phone, all business. “I’ve a list of requirements for the next delivery. We are having a family get together in three months and the entire family will be there. This includes all the ancients, so I’ll need some of your older reserves. They’re rather fussy about their vintages.”
“What’s the occasion,” Thorn asked, glancing from Dacian’s computer, which showed Max’s information and past orders.
“Ninetta is celebrating her fifth century and wants to do it in style.”
Thorn chortled to hide the initial cough at the jolt this gave him. “I remember your parents celebrating her birth.”
Max waved an elegant hand in the air dramatically. “My sister never lets me forget I’m the baby of the family. Even now. I’m over three hundred years old, when will it get old for her?” he complained indulgently, appearing not at all concerned at being the youngest.
